Destined to destroy empires Mia Covere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.

Six years later, the child raised in the shadows takes her first steps towards keeping the promise she made on the day that she lost everything.

But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, so if she is to have her revenge, Mia must become a weapon without equal. She must prove herself against the deadliest of friends and enemies, and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and demons at the heart of a murder cult.
The Red Church is no Hogwarts, but Mia is no ordinary student. The shadows loves her. And they drink her fear.

Stab stab stab.

That’s pretty much me internally going “Why did it take you so bloody long to finish this book?!” Well, a number of factors really. I went on holidays for a few weeks (yes I took this book away but didn’t get a chance to finish it), and then was slammed at work when I got back. Hello 2,000+ emails in my inbox.

Yes, I took my damn sweet time reading Nevernight, but it was so worth it. It’s like when you savour a beautiful bottle of wine, that’s pretty much how my reading experience with Nevernight went.

Nevernight follows a young girl of 16, Mia Corvere, who lost everything on the night her father was hung for attempting to overthrow the Republic of Itreya. With her mother and baby brother snatched away and locked in the Philosopher’s Stone, Mia barely escapes with her own life. Raised in the shadows of death, Mia is trained to follow in the path of night, in a world where three suns burn bright thanks to their god, Aa. Mia is out for revenge on the ones that wronged her family, and she’ll stop at nothing to kill the men responsible.

I don’t even know where to start with this review — I thought every part of this book was brilliant, even down to the footnotes. Mia is one of the fiercest female protagonists I’ve read in a while — and I’m not just saying this about her personality. The girl is steel, but at the same time she remembers what being human means. The first book follows Mia as she trains at The Red Church, an assassin school that’s being hunted down by the Republic. Kristoff does an amazing job illustrating the history of Mia’s world, and building the foundation for what’s to come. And while the first book is by no means short of action (in fact, I was on the edge of my seat pretty much throughout the last quarter of the book), the two that follows will definitely be downright EPIC. I seriously can’t wait.

It’s hard to review a book like this without revealing too much, and the style of storytelling definitely takes some getting used to, especially the language. I understand that some people thought the language was too flowery, but I personally enjoyed it a lot. It felt right for the period it was set in (the world is an adaption of the Roman Republic), and I particularly loved the use of footnotes to incorporate little snippets of history that didn’t fit in with the direction of the main story. Such a smart concept from Kristoff, because it felt like I was reading a story within a story!

And you know what else Kristoff did really well in? RIPPING THE READER’S HEART OUT. You can never really predict who will be safe at the Red Church, not even for our main protagonist!! And this is despite knowing that there’s two more books to follow. But Kristoff is just evil enough that you know anything at all could happen to your favourite characters. And just when you feel like you can breathe a sigh of relief because the scary part is over…he freaking pulls the rug out from under you.

No mercy. No mercy at all.

I was literally FLOORED at the turn of events, and kept hoping it was a very bad joke and everything would be okay. Yeah…be prepared to have your trust and your heart stamped on, with salt and vinegar poured on for good measure. That’s the only advice I will give you, if you have yet to read this book. Kristoff is EVIL, I tell you. Pure evil!! But that’s totally fine because Nevernight is absolutely freaking brilliant. Pick up a copy now.

Thank you to Harper Voyager Australia for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Joy is the head honcho of Thoughts By J. Her favourite genres are fantasy, sci-fi, mysteries, and the occasional romance that makes her heart beat faster. You'll find she's quite sporadic with her blog posts, but will definitely find the time to reply to all your comments, and visit your blogs...it's just a matter of when.

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The books and items reviewed on Thoughts By J are purchased by us unless explicitly specified. We occasionally receive books for review from Australian publishers in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts By J does not receive monetary compensation for our reviews or posts.